Behind the scenes at Performance Bicycle

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are about to change, the temperatures have dropped into the “constantly pleasant” range, the days are growing shorter, and our summer fitness is going to go the way of the white squirrels (hiding for winter). This can only mean one thing: it’s time for the Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race!

This year, one of our Pisgah veterans David will be spending the week reporting from Interbike so I (Christopher) am taking the opportunity to introduce another co-worker (Johnny) to the sweetest single track on the planet. Over the course of five gruelling stages we’re going to try to accomplish our eternal stage race goal: don’t be last.

In an attempt to not be last this year, I’ve got a new bike! Meet my GT Zaskar 100 9r:Now those with a sharp eye will notice that I’ve made a couple of upgrades to my Zaskar. I wanted to call out one in particular today. This week I’m going to be giving the most challenging test to our new Forte Tsali 29er tires.

The Tsali is the latest in our new line of 29er tires. It’s named for a trail network that’s in the same area as the stage race, so this race should leave the tires feeling right at home. At 656 grams for a 2.2″ 29er tire, they are a great race ready tire. The dual density rubber has shown an impressive amount of grip on my training rides and I’m looking forward to really seeing what these tires are capable of. I’m about 160 pounds and with Stan’s Tire Sealant sealing these tires to ZTR Crest rims, I’m running these tires tubeless at about 25 psi.

With rain in the forecast for tomorrow’s White Squirrel Loop, stage 1 promises to be a real test for the Tsali 29er tires and for us the riders.

Now I’m going to turn things over to Johnny for his first thoughts and product highlights.

Cue Jaws soundtrack. Why you might ask? Two reasons really.

The 2012 Pisgah Stage Race begins tomorrow! My heart is beating a little harder today in anticipation. I can feel the adrenaline beginning to flow through my veins.From the race director:We’ve got another great year planned and are honored to have so many folks from such a vast area want to be a part of this race. We have 75 riders coming from 12 different states, including Colorado, Texas and Vermont. Over 20% of the riders are coming from outside of the United States from places like Canada, Puerto Rico and the Netherlands. The youngest registered racer is 22 and the oldest a mere 58. Only 12% of the racers are under 30 years old and only 16% of the racers are women.We’re excited to be starting a day out of the historic Cradle of Forestry on Wednesday! This is the first time an event like this has operated out of this facility and as you will see, it is spectacular. This is the site of the first forestry school in America, founded by Carl Schenck, also the stage’s namesake.

We might as well be in a scene from the movie Jaws because 3-5” of rain is expected to fall in the region over the next 48 hours. The singletrack will be our great white, looking to eat us up with every twisting, slippery root and unsettling boulder. As if the trails weren’t epic enough, throw in all the rain and I can only imagine the battle between man and mountain that will ensue. Makes you want to come out and join us right? Be sure and lift up that warm mug of coffee tomorrow morning one more time for us.

In case you are wondering, this is what I saw this morning as the weather channel page loaded:

Yes, that pinkish white section, meaning 5”+, under the word Wednesday is where we will be racing.

With all that rain on the way, having a firm grip on the handlebars is going to be very important. Therefore, we will be sporting grips from Ergon. I am going to alrenate between their all mountain GA1 Evo, which I have been riding over the past 6 weeks, and their GS1 which provides a little more support. I love the subtle, yet important contour to the GA1 grip. It fits under my palm very well and spreads out the impact over a larger surface area of my hand resulting in more comfort. With these long stages ahead, comfort is going to be critical.

Here we both are, in good spirits, relaxing over a game of cornhole. Stay tuned tomorrow and through the rest of the week as we bring you live updates from this ultimate mountain bike adventure!